If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Because of the fact that the outbound Edens was completely closed for seven hours - all the traffic bound for it was diverted either onto side streets or onto the Kennedy and then onto to the Tri-State Toll Road (for those trying to go to the NW and N suburbs that the Edens served) it took me three hours to complete what is a 50-minute drive at most.

I have only been in one worse traffic jam and that was before a concert when a truck filled with tomatoes created a giant Bruschetta on the Eisenhower expressway, blocking all inbound lanes and delaying our arrival at the concert to exactly five minutes before the main act (Yes) when we had planned to arrive at least three hours before to catch two opening acts (whom I forget ... well, I didn't see them did I?)

--------------------
Accident makes Edens a pigsty
--------------------
By Josh Noel
Tribune staff reporter
July 2, 2007
Northbound lanes of the Edens Expressway were closed for more than seven hours Sunday after a dump truck carrying greasy pig parts toppled and splattered its load across the highway.
A sudden shift in the load caused the truck to fall onto its side about 7:30 a.m. while entering the Edens at Dempster Street, said Mike Claffey, spokesman for the Illinois Department of Transportation.
Pig ears, feet and grease covered all three northbound lanes of the Edens, he said.
"This is obviously something that's really hard to clean up," Claffey said.
The outbound Edens was closed between the Kennedy Expressway in Chicago and Dempster in Skokie until about 3 p.m.
The truck's driver, Hassan Ware, 39, of the 0-100 block of Willow Court in Bolingbrook, was cited with driving too fast for conditions and spilling a load on the highway, state police said. The trucker, who was not injured, was unavailable for comment.
IDOT workers used sand to absorb the grease and were trucking it--along with the pig parts--from the scene. Foam usually used in hazardous-material cases was used to clean the road, Claffey said.
IDOT cleaned the lanes twice, then sprinkled rock salt--usually used during snowstorms--to provide extra traction. Electronic message boards above the highway warned drivers of potential slippery conditions.
Trooper Jose Nevarez said northbound traffic was diverted onto the Kennedy or side streets, resulting in long delays. Southbound lanes of the Edens were unaffected.
The truck bears the name of Griffin Industries of Hammond, which says on its Web site that it collects and transports "millions of pounds of waste byproducts daily from slaughterhouses, packing plants, butcher shops, supermarkets, hotels and restaurants."
A company spokesman did not return a call for comment Sunday.jbnoel@tribune.com
Copyright (c) 2007, Chicago Tribune